Katherine
I’m mixed on this one. On one hand, I loved how the book explored themes of family, grief, gender, accepting yourself, and overcoming trauma. The sections of the book that focused the most on these themes were written beautifully and impactfully. This book explained and explored gender dysphoria in an way that I, as a cis-het person, could put myself in Nhung’s place and understand it to a degree that hasn’t happened with other books that explore this topic.
The sections between these beautiful moments, though… I mostly found them clunky. Not bad, but it felt very much like moving from set piece to set piece. The characters were so well done, I wish the plot had been a bit more engaging. The first few chapters I struggled with- I wasn’t liking the book and felt confused. But once I got to the second third of the book, the more introspective aspects started to ramp up and the story felt more connected to those themes. Loved the characters and themes, felt mixed on the overall plot.
I’m mixed on this one. On one hand, I loved how the book explored themes of family, grief, gender, accepting yourself, and overcoming trauma. The sections of the book that focused the most on these themes were written beautifully and impactfully. This book explained and explored gender dysphoria in an way that I, as a cis-het person, could put myself in Nhung’s place and understand it to a degree that hasn’t happened with other books that explore this topic.
The sections between these beautiful moments, though… I mostly found them clunky. Not bad, but it felt very much like moving from set piece to set piece. The characters were so well done, I wish the plot had been a bit more engaging. The first few chapters I struggled with- I wasn’t liking the book and felt confused. But once I got to the second third of the book, the more introspective aspects started to ramp up and the story felt more connected to those themes. Loved the characters and themes, felt mixed on the overall plot.